Breton Cake Banana Rum Flambée

Ok, ok, I know it’s a bit of a mouthful as far as titles go, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to put it. It was last Sunday, I was tidying the house you see, cleaning the windows, defrosting the freezer, you know the kind of stuff men are known to never undertake… uh? Well not me, every so often, a miracle happens and for some reason, I go nuts. As I was almost finished, I stumbled upon a bunch of bananas that was over ripe for my morning enjoyment, yet, not black enough for a banana cake… Dilemma!

Ripe bananas

I decided to make a Breton Cake and stuff the bananas in the middle, like we do traditionally with prunes or like I do sometimes with apples… But that wasn’t going to cut it this time, so I drove to my village, went to one of the pubs and asked the nice young lady for a bottle of dark rum… She looked at me a bit puzzled, the character didn’t match the request I guess; I reassured her by saying: ” It’s for a cake, a banana cake!” “oh, that sounds lovely!” she said comforted by my answer. She asked me if I wanted a brown paper bag, you know, to put the bottle in. I confidently declined the kind offer; the fact that I was telling the truth and not going to drink it under a bridge or something, seemed to have pleased her. I even got a lovely smile back. Little did she know, I was going to go pyromaniac on the whole thing!

Banana skins

For the cake I did my usual mix for a Breton Cake, without orange zest:

250g of organic flour

250g of butter

2oog of organic sugar

5 egg yolks

I put the flour and sugar together in a blender, and added the butter in small cubes before pulsing a bit. I then added the egg yolks and did the same again (but not too much), before putting the mixture into a bowl for a last knead…

Mixture ready to pulseBreton Cake dough

In the fridge it went for a bit. I peeled three bananas in thick slices, and started to fry them in a pan, with a generous lump of butter… Once golden, I turned them gently on the other side.

frying in butter

I left the heat on, and poured about 10cl of dark rum over them, left it for a few seconds before setting the whole thing on fire by inclining the pan near the flames. Careful now, be safe when you do this, and don’t stir or shake the pan… Let it burn gently and don’t put too much alcohol, unless you want a big flambée…

Flambée…

The fire will die out gently, let it cool. While you do that, cut the dough in half, placing one of them at the bottom of a buttered and floured oven dish. Lay the dough gently in order to get an even surface and then place the slices of bananas on top…

Bananas Flambée

Cover with the other half of the dough, and paint with a beaten egg and a bit of the buttered rum from the pan… Dont forget the famous Breton Cake design!

Egg washed, ready to bake!

Put it in the oven, at 200c for 25minutes, then bring it down at 150c for another 25… Serve with the reduced buttered rum from the pan, ice cream, or even just like that with a cup of coffee!

24 thoughts on “Breton Cake Banana Rum Flambée”

Oh my heavens that is illegally delicious, I rather think! As an aside, one of the things that makes me smile here in the US is that ALL alcohol is put in a brown bag so EVERYONE instantly knows you’re laden with booze 😂😂

The brown paper bag one made me laugh. Any time I buy a bottle of spirits, I am asked the same question. My answer is always the same; “No thanks, I’m not ashamed of what you have just sold me.” The reactions are varied to say the least.

I know Conor, this is part of some hypocrisy I have only seen in Ireland; like meeting at the bottle bank or meeting an acquaintance in the local Supervalu or else; the need for justification is very interesting. A good one for the shrink’s sofa, for sure! 😀

I once met the MD of another marketing company in Lidl. He had two bottles of wine. He blurted out something about having the parents in law over for a meal and it being the cheapest thing he could find. All this with a very red face. I simply told him I was there to do the weekly shop. Much easier on the heart rate.

In my wee town in Brittany, we meet a couple of times a week at the local bottle bank ( we have a lot); my father and his neighbours actually use wheelbarrows, and take this opportunity for a good chat 😀 I have always found this attitude very interesting!

Breton cake with bananas, that’s an interesting take… I just brought back two breton cakes made by my aunt, the guys in the office love them (of course!). I’ve never tried to make breton cake because I was told the most important thing is the oven temperature and that it could screw the whole thing up if it’s not right. So I’m just baking the easy one, the “far breton”! Maybe with your recipe I’ll manage a breton cake one day 🙂